This invention relates to aldol reactions of organic carbonyl compounds and more particularly to the use of catalysts prepared by the interaction of alkylene oxides with salts.
Reactions between electron-accepting reactants, such as aldehydes or ketones, and an active methylene group .alpha.-substituted by electron-donating components have been catalyzed commercially by alkali metal hydroxides for some time. For example, 2-ethylhexanediol-1, 3,2-ethylhexanol-1, diacetone alcohol, isophorone, mesityl oxide, methyl isoamyl ketone, and the like have been so-produced followed by, in some cases, dehydration and hydrogenation. The products available from such reaction sequences have been used for insect repellants, organic solvents, plasticizers, detergents, tranquilizers, and the like. While the aldol technology itself is old, various technical problems have persisted over the years. Among these problems may be mentioned process water and solvent costs, separation of the product phases (i.e., water and the condensation compound formed), loss of reactor volume due to solvent/diluent requirements, conversion of starting materials to by-products and contamination of plant-water effluents by the metallic catalysts employed to effect the condensation reaction.